Sewing machines



Nov. 3, 1959 s. GREISMAN 2,910,949

sswmc MACHINES Filed Sept. 24, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 S. GREISMAN SEWINGMACHINES Nov. 3, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1956 AttorneyUnited States Patent SEWING MACHINES Samuel Greisman, London, England,assignor to Comtex Limited, London, England, a British companyApplication September 24, 1%6, Serial No. 611,432

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 5, 1956 4 Claims. (Cl.112-411) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to sewingmachines for use in applying a binding over the edge or edges of one ormore layer or layers of material and simultaneously sewing such bindingand said layer or layers together, and more particularly the inventionconcerns improvements in or relating to machines for closing or sealing(hereinafter referred to as sealing),

with the aid of sewing, bags or sacks and the like (e.g.

paper, plastic, or fabric envelopes or containers and matsuccessivelythrough the said gap (usually with the machine so disposed that the saidU-shaped gap is in a vertical inverted position) and being sewn up bystitching passing directly through the opposite walls of the bag.

The other method referred tois similar to that just mentioned exceptthatthe sewing machine is of a portable character and is taken to thebags instead of the latter being taken to the machine. Such a portablesewing machine also has a U-shaped gap as aforesaid and has a handle atits upper part whereby the machine may be suspended over the mouth ofthe bag and passed laterally across the bag to sew up the mouth thereof.

When a bag has been sewn up by either of the methods referred to thereis alwa s a danger that the mouth of the bag will subsequently becometorn or even be torn during the sewing operation itself. l /loreover,where fine materials are contained in the bag there is always somedanger of some leakage of these materials occurring between the stitchesused for sealing the bag.

It is an object of this invention to provide, in or for a portablesewing machine for sealing bags, an attachment Which enables such amachine to be readily con.- verted from a machine which merely closesbags by sewing into a machine which, in addition, applies a coveringstrip to the bag seals so as to make the latter tighter and more or lessimpermeable to the contents of the bag.

It is a further object of this invention to provide, in a portablesewing machine having a covering strip applying attachment according tothis invention, a guillotine mounted on the opposite side of the head ofthe sewing machine to said attachment for severing off that portion ofthe covering strip which has been applied to a bag.

In order that the invention may more readily be understood and carriedinto practice, one embodiment of the same will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a reel holding and folding attachmentconstructed in accordance with this invention for attachment to a bagsealing sewing machine;

shown in Figure 1 detached from the machine.

Figure 2 is a front perspective view from one side of a bag sealingsewing machine having the attachment illustrated in Figure 1 and aco-operating guillotine applied thereto;

Figure 3 is a front perspective view taken from the other side of themachine shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary part-sectional plan of the machine shown inFigures 2 and 3 and illustrates how the attachment shown in Figure 1 canbe collapsed into an out of the way position on the said machine; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section on line V-V of Figure 4.

The drawings illustrate this invention as applied to a bag sealingsewing machine of the known Fischbein type of which an example isdescribed in British Patent No. 648,414. Nevertheless, it should beunderstood that this invention may be applied to other types of bagsealing sewing machines which may be driven electrically (as theFischbein machine) either from the electric mains or from a battery,pneumatically or in any other way.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the bag sealing sewing machine whichcomprises a head 2 having an inverted U-shaped gap 3 and furnished atits upper part with a handle 4 whereby the machine may be suspended overthe mouth of a bag such as 5 (Figure 2) passed between the foot 6 of thesewing machine (carried by the forward limb 7 of the head) and the feedmechanism 8 carried by the rear limb 9 of the head of the machine, thearrangement being such that the machine may be suspended over the mouthof the bag 5 and traversed along such mouth to enable the mouth of thebag to be sewn upby means of the needle 1i) of the machine, and thread11 fed from a bobbin 12 carried by the machine, said needle being drivenconveniently from an electric motor 13 through a driving shaft andsuitable transmission. The foot 5 is withdrawa'ole by means of a lever15. The sewing machine so far described is of normal known form and noclaim is made per se to such a machine.

In accordance with this invention, the machine 1 is provided with a tapeor covering strip applying attachment. This attachment is mounted on oneside of the machine 1, Le. on the right-hand side viewing themachinefrom the front, and comprises a reel holder bracket or support generallyindicated by the reference 16 and which is This bracket 16 isconveniently formed from a blank of appropriate sheet metal (e.g.aluminum) pressed'to the desired shape and comprises a wall or mainpanel portion 17 which is furnished at its upper left-hand edge (as theat tachment is seen in Figure 2) with a flange or wing 18 which ishinged about a vertical axis 19 to the main panel 17, this wing beingfurnished with a pair of vertically spaced keyhole slots '20 adapted toreceive correspondingly located screws 21 in the right-hand side face ofthe head 2 of the machine 1 so that the main panel 17 of the reel holderbracket 16 will, when the bracket is fixed to the head of the machineandthe main panel 17 is locked at right angles to the wing 18, projectlaterally from the machine 1 parallel to the line of feed of bagsthrough the gap 3 in the head 2 of the machine.

' As will be clear from Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings, the mainpanel 17 of the bracket 16 is capable of swinging about the verticalaxis 19 relatively to the wing 18 so that the panel 17 may either bearranged in the operative position shown in Figures 1 and 2 and in fulllines in Figure 4 or swung rearwardly through into the positionindicated in chain-dotted lines in Figure 4 when the main panel 17, andthe parts carried thereby and subsequently described, are located in anout-ofthe-way position enabling the sewing machine to be used for normalpurposes as if the attachment being described was not applied to themachine.

In order to lock the panel 17 in the operative position,

a displaceable strut member 22 hinged at 23 to the lower end of the wing18 and capable of swinging from an out-of-the-way collapsed positionshown in chain dotted lines at 24 in Figure 1 into the horizontalposition shown in full lines in Figure 1 behind the panel 17 so as tohold this out from the wing 18 at right angles thereto, the strut 22having a corner part 25 adapted to engage upon a protuberance 26extending rearwardly from the panel 17. This panel is prevented fromswinging forwardly more than 90 from the wing 13 by means of a verticalstop flange 27 formed integrally with the lower part of the hinged edgeof the panel 17 and projecting at right angles forwardly therefrom sothat, when the panel 17 is arranged at right angles to the wing 18 andthus perpendicular to the side face of the head 2 of the sewing machine,the stop 27 bears against the side of the rear limb 9 of the head 2 andlimits the further forward movement of the panel 17. The front edge ofthe stop 27 is furnished with a return portion 28 which is adapted toclip the front of the rear limb 9 of the head 1 of the machine as isshown clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings.

In order that the panel 17 may be held in its out-ofthe-way positionwhen moved to such position, there is secured to the upper part of therear side of the panel a suction cup 29 adapted to be adhered to thecasing of the electric motor 13.

In an alternative, the panel 17 may be constantly spring urged to itsout-of-the-way position and be held in its operative position, whenrequired, by means of the strut 22.

The panel 17 is furnished with a forwardly projecting spindle 3d fixedat one end, cantilever fashion to the panel. The spindle 30 has a plainportion 31 to receive a reel 32 of covering strip or tape 33 andterminates in a reduced screw threaded portion 34 which receives a cupshaped washer 35 and a clamping nut 36, a spring 37 being providedbetween the clamping nut 36 and the washer 35 to press the latter intofrictional engagement with the reel 32 thereby to hold the latter on thespindle 30 and to prevent the reel 32 overrunning in use. The reel maybe formed by winding the covering strip upon a metal, cardboard, woodenor other suitable tubular core which fits freely upon the spindle 30.Alternatively, the strip may be carried by a reel having side flangesbetween which the strip is located, the reel then being similar to acinematograph film reel.

From the lower edge of the panel 17 forwardly projects a guide carryingflange 38 having secured on its underside guide means in the form of acovering strip guide 39 having a flattened cross-sectional form at itsinput end 40 and progressively assuming an even deepening channelsection towards its output end 41 (Figure 1). The covering strip 23 isfed from the reel 32 to the guide 39 which progressively converts thestrip from its initial substantially flat form into a deep inverted U-or V-form in cross-section.

The guide 39 is conveniently formed from a blank of sheet metal ofinitially substantially rectangular form having portions 42 of itslongitudinal edges 43 doubled over, as shown in Figure 5, upon the blankto form channels into which the edges of the covering strip 33 pass asthe strip is fed through the guide 39 and in which the edges of thestrip are held until the strip passses from the guide to the head 2 ofthe sewing machine 1, the said blank being doubled upon itself along itscentre line to a progressively increasing extent from its input end 49to its output end 41 where the blank is most severely bent upon itself.The arrangement being such that the flat strip of covering material isprogressively converted from the said flat strip form to the said deepinverted U- or V-shape in cross-section when it is ready to receivebetween its side flanges the mouth of the bag 5.

At its input end, the guide 39 is rolled upwardly and over upon itselfso as to form wide bearing element or a cylindrical tranverse portion 44perpendicular to the longitudinal edges of the guide and over which thestrip passes as it travels from the reel 32 to the guide 39 and by whichthe strip is smoothed out and slightly tensioned before passing to theguide. In an alternative, the portion 44 may be replaced by a roller tominimise Wear and tear on such portion. As shown, the covering strip 33is conveniently drawn off from the top outer portion of the reel 32 andthen fed downwardly and around the cylindrical portion 44, into theguide 39, with the edges of the strip in the laterally spaced sidechannels of the guide, and forwardly through the guide to the gap 3 inthe sewing machine head 2.

So that an operator may keep a very close eye upon the operation of theguide 39, an adjustable mirror 45 is arranged below the level of theguide, this mirror 45 being carried by a screw 46 itself carried by thefree end of an arm 47 which is attached at its other end to thecylindrical portion 44 of the guide 39, which for this purposeconveniently extends forwardly beyond the forward longitudinal edge 43of the guide, by the doubling of the end of the arm 47 over thecylindrical portion 44 and the securing of this doubled over end to anintermediate part of the arm by a thumb screw 48. The mirror 45 isuniversally adjustable relative to the screw 46, as by being connectedthereto through the medium of a ball and socket joint so that theposition of the mirror 45 can be set to suit the particular operatingposition assumed by the operator who can then observe any breakage inthe strip 33 or any other untoward happening.

The position of the arm 47 may be adjusted angularly around the axis ofthe cylindrical portion 44 of the guide 39 by loosening the thumb screw48 and retightening the same when the arm has been moved. By this meansthe arm 47 may be moved to the position shown in chain dotted lines inFigure 1 to move the mirror 45 to an out-of-the-way position when thepanel 17 is to be moved to its out-of-the-way position shown inchaindotted lines in Figure 4.

The sealing strip will preferably be crepe paper as this is inexpensive,resilient and suitable for the purpose, but other suitable materials maybe employed if desired, e.g. stronger materials such as fabric strip.

In the machine being described, there is provided on the side oppositeto that on which the covering strip applying attachment is located, i.e.on the left-hand side viewing the machine from the front, a guillotineassembly for severing the covering strip just beyond the trail: ing endof the sealed mouth of the bag. This assembly comprises a pair ofguillotine blades 49, 50 (see Figure 3) pivoted together at one end soas to operate scissor fashion, the blade 49 being secured, e.g. byscrewing, to the lower part of the rear limb 9 of the head 2 and at theside of the head so that, as a sealed bag passes entirely from the headof the machine, the other blade 50 can be closed upon the blade 49 tocut off the strip.

The movable blade 50 is furnished with a forwardly extending operatinglever 51 having at one end an L-shaped plate 52 by which it is securedto the blade 50 and at the other end a hand knob 53, conveniently formedof rubber or like material, and passing through a guide slot 54 providedin a bracket 55 fitted to the forward limb 7 of the head 2 of themachine. The guide slot 54 limits the extent of movement of the blade 50and also ensures that the latter will mate satisfactorily with the otherblade 49. A spring 56 is secured between the upper edge of the blade 50,and the upper part of the bracket 55 and serves to urge the guillotineblades to their relatively opened positions.

It will be appreciated that the guillotine above described serves notonly to cut off the sealing strip but also to sever the cotton used inthe sewing operation so that this guillotine will preferably be usedwhether a sealing strip is being applied to a bag, or not. Moreover, inorder to enable the guillotine to be used in sewing up the mouths ofjute or similar textile bags where the bag enters the gap in the head ofthe sewing machine to a greater extent than is usual with the paper bag,the above described guillotine may be modified to make the bladeslonger, the pivot for the blades being near the top of the gap, theoperating arm or lever being curved, the position of the spring modifiedand the guard suitably correspondingly formed.

I claim:

1. For use with a portable sewing machine having a recessed sewing headwith conventional stitching and feed mechanism disposed therein, anauxiliary device for applying and stitching a covering tape over theedge of material to be sewn, said device comprising a support having awall and a flange extending from a vertical edge thereof, said flangeprovided with slot means adapted to detachably engage cooperating meansdisposed on said machine, a spindle carried by said wall adapted tomount a reel of said tape thereon in alignment with said mechanism,adjustable friction means adapted to engage the reel when mountedthereon to oppose free turning of said reel, fold guide means carried bysaid wall adjacent the lower edge thereof, the input end of said foldguide means being provided with a wide bearing element adapted to spreadand smooth said tape, said guide means having a narrow inverted channeloutput end and adapted to continuously feed said tape in folded positionover the edge of material being fed to said sewing machine for stitchingduring operation of said mechanism.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein said wall and said flange areconnected by a collapsible support means, whereby said spindle-mountedreel and said guide means may be moved from aligned operative positionrelative to said mechanism to an inoperative position, and means forretaining said device in such inoperative position.

3. A device according to claim 2 wherein a displaceable strut disposedon said flange is adapted to engage said wall and maintain said wall inoperative position.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein said wall is provided with aclip means adapted to engage said machine and cooperate with said slotmeans to maintain said device in operative alignment with saidmechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,748,770 Homing Feb. 25, 1930 2,199,005 Marsh Apr. 30, 1940 2,282,200Neuman May 5, 1942 2,423,080 Belcher et al July 1, 1947 2,758,556Hopkins Aug. 14, 1956

